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Help with Camera Battery Hack

Posted by Thomas Stanley-Jones on May 15, 2016 at 7:51am

I was hoping someone could tell me why this isn't working for me. I have an adjustable voltage regulator connecting a 2C 1.8 A LiPo to my Canon ELPH 110HS.  The camera normally takes a 3.6V 680mAh NB-11L Li-ion battery.  When I put the dummy battery into the Canon and plug it in, the voltage output on the regulator drops to between 1.5 and 2 V.  I expected it to hold 3.6 V and power the camera.  What am I missing?  I'm quite new to this, so I expect it to be my own stupidity, but I don't know the answer.3691297896?profile=original

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Replies

  • Chris Alford May 19, 2016 at 7:07am
    Waladi, that is how mine is setup but the battery insert has what appears to be a battery management board inside of it, which is a good thing because everything works properly. I don't remember the exact values but fine tuning the step down regulator results in different battery percentage level on the camera (something like 7.5v shows like 60%, 7.8 shows 90%). The value never changes and doesn't really matter, it just shows the dummy battery insert is communicating battery information to the camera.
  • Waladi May 19, 2016 at 12:20am

    As Chris mentioned, perhaps we can use this part from Sony Adapter AC-PW20 and strip the cable, solder it directly to the Voltage step-down regulator on the drone side, assuming that the below part is only dummy battery with cables (no electronic / voltage converter inside)

    Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-Power-Supply-Adapter-AC-PW20-For-Sony-Al...

    3702243850?profile=original

    • wrostek > Waladi May 19, 2016 at 2:48am

      I'm interested for the Sony NEX (-5R) as well.

      When reading the comments in the Amazon link from Chris above
      it is not clear what is working or not.

      I have a repair manual which mentions a battery detector circuit
      (UPD79F0043FC-404-2N1-E2-A) connected to the third 'S' pin.
      This is marked TxRx in the diagram which indicates a serial protocol
      as mentioned in http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/27700
      If this is not handled well this would explain to me the kind of
      random behaviour with replacement parts (detecting battery or charger).
      I couldn't find any more details about this pin.

      Wolfgang R.

  • IronDOME May 17, 2016 at 12:50pm

    Oooh, I think this is the stuff I too need for longer endurance flights.

    I use Sony A5100, could you share with me some info that I can use to achieve similar thing that you did?

    Essentially I want use external battery to power my Camera in order to allow it to go for alot longer that OEM battery.

    Thanks

    • Thomas Stanley-Jones > IronDOME May 17, 2016 at 2:32pm

      I was able to find a 3D printable dummy batter for the Canon, which worked really well since the old battery didn't have a hard case around it. 

      You essentially just want to replace the guts of an old battery with a couple wires.  I think the battery you want is the NP-FW50.  Buy the cheapest one you can find on Amazon, take the battery out of the case, and make sure positive is to positive :-).  I used a Voltage regulator as I didn't have a 3.6V battery source (what the Canon needed), but the Sony needs 7.2V, if I'm correct.

      I haven't looked at my a5100, but you might need to punch a hole through the battery lid for the wires to pass through.  Be careful that the lid still triggers the "Closed Switch" otherwise it won't turn on.  The Canon was only $60 so it was easier to experiment with than the Sony.

      • IronDOME > Thomas Stanley-Jones May 17, 2016 at 2:46pm

        Hey Thomas

        Thanks for your reply mate. I just found on ebay ready made dummy and the battery, looks pretty good, I just dont know how heavy it is. I messaged the seller to find out how many addtional grams will I be loading the drone with. Otherwise looks pretty good. Thanks for the ideas, helped alot. 

        http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ex-Pro-On-The-Move-7600mAh-Battery-replacin...

        • Chris Alford > IronDOME May 18, 2016 at 9:30am

          Sony makes an official version AC-PW20 and there's a little rubber flap on the battery door to accommodate it. Here is the one I use on my A5000 combined with a DC-DC converter set to 7.6v.

          http://amzn.com/B0083EQS3I

           

          • IronDOME > Chris Alford May 18, 2016 at 10:51am

            Chris

            Thanks, I saw this but I'm not sure what is the AC power on board a drone. Batteries are DC. For ground use of camera say long hours of video recording many be a suitable choice.

            The one I have presented above is 281gm, so I need to check if the drone can handle that additional  grams, it should. I'm interested and I think I will go for that.

            Thanks all

            ID

  • Mike Boland May 15, 2016 at 12:32pm

    It usually means the regulator is not able to cope with the current draw.

    You said dummy battery, is that loading the regulator?
    How is it wired up?
    What is the current rating of the regulator?

    • Thomas Stanley-Jones > Mike Boland May 15, 2016 at 2:06pm

      Thank you and sorry.  Thank you for asking me simple questions. Sorry that I had to ask before finding out that I had put the positive to the negative...

      At least I know it should work once I have it righted.

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